Bittersweet Lesson
by oh-woah
Summary: "I'll stay - with you - forever." It was a cruel thing to say to him - the boy who had slowly built up his defenses to shield himself from the world - because it was a promise Lucy was unable to keep.


Disclaimer: This story is made for entertainment purposes only, and not to make any profit whatsoever. The only thing I own is my imagination. I really would like to take credit for the quote, but I'm sure I'm not the first to come up with it. Darn. Maybe I can take half-credit?

Summary: "I'll stay - with you - forever." It was a cruel thing to say to him - the boy who had slowly built up his defenses to shield himself from the world - because it was a promise Lucy was unable to keep.

Song Recommendation: _Complicated_ by _Avril Lavigne_

Warning: AU, as well as slight OOC-ness.

Pairing: Sting x Lucy

Rating: T

Word Count: 2,148

* * *

_Bittersweet Lesson_

_by_

_oh-woah_

* * *

_I'll stay - with you - forever._

* * *

"Hi."

The boy jumped in surprise, then turned to her with what seemed like a guilty face. "I didn't realize anyone was here."

Lucy waved him off nonchalantly, despite being dressed in a hospital gown - which the other boy obviously noticed - while the other blond-haired boy stared at her suspiciously. "Normally there wouldn't be."

"I figured," was his short, drawling reply that made Lucy feel idiotic. They were both standing on the roof of the hospital. Several tall buildings rose up and blocked them from questioning eyes.

She decided not to dignify that snide comment with an answer. After a period of silence, he asked, "Shouldn't you be inside?"

The mysterious man went completely ignored. Instead, Lucy leaned against the railing and laughed. Afterwards, she murmured, "Isn't it a lovely night?"

Silence. Usually, this was when wanderers left her alone - they had assumed she was a mental patient and wanted nothing to do with her. But this man surprised her; he didn't leave. No, Lucy heard the rustle of clothes as he joined her in gazing at the night sky from the railing.

"Yeah."

Lucy eyed him from the corner of her eye. He was a weird one, this blonde man. But it wasn't like she was one to talk, anyway.

* * *

_Week One_

He was rather amused by the blonde girl's quirkiness - it was one thing that he looked forward to during his daily visits to Rogue. He felt more relaxed in her presence than he had with other people. Then again, it made him question his own mental stability when he realized he preferred the slightly insane girl's company to others.

"You again, Blondie," he said in mock-disdain as he pushed the door to the rooftop open.

Predictably, she was there, leaning against the railing.

"Sting," Lucy greeted, trying not to appear irked at the nickname. The blonde man could literally count the_ exact_ amount of seconds it took for her to finally explode at the endearment. "We're _both_ blonde. Stop _calling_ me that already."

It had been frighteningly easy to fall into a routine with this girl. Sting would work from morning to afternoon, and then visit Rogue at the hospital. His best friend had landed himself here after a particularly nasty injury on their last mission. The only reason the blonde soldier visited the accursed military hospital was because of his dark-haired friend. It was well-known that Sting absolutely hated the hospital, and took great measures to avoid it.

Injury was inevitable, especially in his line of work - he was a soldier for the war, after all. It was an occupational hazard. They were bound to run into accidents.

Actually, it had also been an accident to run into _her_. Lucy was a mysery. She didn't appear to be sick, though she was rather pale and skinny. He had briefly wondered how Lucy had gotten past security to get here - technically, patients in this facility weren't supposed to be up here. But it didn't really matter to Sting - he wasn't a complete stickler for the rules, so as long as she wasn't hurting anyone, that was fine with him.

Here, he could escape and block things out - he could pretend there wasn't a war going on. He knew he would continue to visit this girl.

Call it naïveté on his part, but Sting rather liked the reprieve from the constant bloodshed and violence of the outside world.

* * *

_Week 3, Day 6_

His reflection on this place being a escape had cost him. Reality came back, and bit him. It bit him_ hard_.

Though the time he spent with Lucy had been short, he felt like her knew her - whether it be cold, hard facts that everybody knew, (_She was Lucy Heartphilia. Nineteen-year old heiress to the Heartphilia Company. Diagnosed with a terminal illness. Traumatized by her mother's, Layla Heartphilia's, brutal murder.)_

_- _or whimsical things she had told him on the fly (_Her favorite color was blue. Lucy loved, loved, loved books_. _She sometimes rambled on about her "Spirits" - particularly one named Loke)._

So it came as a shock to Sting one day - Lucy hadn't been in their usual spot - when he stopped right outside her hospital room. The door was ajar, as if someone had left hastily and had forgotten to close it. From the crack of the door, he could see the blonde in her bed, shivering and coughing into her hand. Her coughing fit made him wince, Lucy was wheezing and breathless by the time the tremors that wracked her body stopped. Her pale hand came away, sticky with blood.

This was simply impossible to Sting - Lucy was bright, fiesty, and _not sick at all_. She was _fine. _

It hadn't really occurred to him that Lucy could be sick. Rather, he _couldn't_ acknowledge her sickness. He ignored that vicious voice in his head that ruthlessly reminded him he was_ in a hospital_ - what did he expect?

Sting blanched when she started her coughing fits all over again. He felt as if he had stumbled upon something private, something intimate - something that he wasn't supposed to know. He wanted to go in there - to comfort her somehow -

A doctor brushed past him and entered the room with the sick heiress. "Visiting hours are over."

And the door was shut firmly in his face.

Sting didn't come back the rest of the week.

* * *

_Week Five_

_Control. _

That was what Sting emphasized. He didn't want to lose control of his emotions, didn't want them to cloud his judgement and good sense. When he finally snapped himself out of his delusional dreams to escape war, and his cowardice, Sting returned to the _Fiore Military Hospital_.

He marched straight to Lucy Heartphilia's room before he lost his nerve and made excuses to get away. He hadn't remembered being this nervous in such a long time. It was refreshing, in its own strange way.

Lucy was lying against her white sheets, looking paler and thinner than he last remembered. Her eyes were closed, and she was lying so still that for a moment Sting felt his heart become heavy and drop to his stomach - she looked _dead_.

But then she opened her eyes warily, her chocolate brown orbs flashing in recognition when they settled on him.

She grinned and pushed herself up on trembling arms, and he was at her side in an instant, helping her and letting her get comfortable against the pillows. Lucy looked up at his own eyes imploring, and said, "I'm glad you're back." _Please don't leave me again._

He thought he had reign over his emotions - apparently not. His careful control snapped at her utterance of those words, completely undoing him, unraveling his hard work. Sting leaned over and claimed her lips as his own, not caring that she tasted like blood. Because underneath all that, he could taste a faint sweetness - and despite all his attempts to beat it down, it gave him hope. Fierce, heartbreaking hope - that she would live to see past her 20th birthday.

* * *

_the 6th week..._

_Masochist._

His inner voice accused, and the truth of the word left him weak.

Lucy was hooked to at least two machines and one IV. The steady beeping of the heart monitor informed him she was still alive, at least. She was gaunt, her brilliant blonde hair and chocolate eyes dimmed by the pain.

He approached her bed, placing a bouquet of lilies on her bedside table - they were her favorite flowers.

"Can you still see under all those?" Sting teased lightly, referring the many wires criss-crossing over her body.

She gave a weak smile - her best attempt. It sent another pang of pain deep in his chest to see her like this, yet he knew he could not leave her side. Not willingly, at least.

Lucy's mouth moved, and her first attempt was unsuccessful. Sting tried to shush her, telling her to conserve her energy, but Lucy would not have any of it. She moved her hand and rested it atop his. Sting was acutely aware of the difference between his larger, tanned hand compared to her significantly smaller, pale one. Instead of answering back with light-heartedness, Lucy murmured something that rocked the already precarious balance of his world.

"I'll stay - with you - forever."

It was a cruel thing to say to him - the boy who had slowly built up his defenses to shield himself from the world - because it was a promise he knew Lucy would be unable to keep. Sting clenched his eyes tightly, wishing not for the first time, that he could take all the burdens off her frail body and place it upon himself. He clenched her hand tightly, pressing his lips to her knuckles and tenderly kissing the skin there. Inwardly, he cursed and cursed with his might at all the Gods out there in the universe, wondering why, of all people, did it have to be Lucy?

Sting hated disease, hated that there was nothing he could do. If it were a physical enemy threatening his girl - Sting would have taken care of the bastard and gladly beat him to a pulp. But the enemy he was facing was not something he could fight, and neither could medical specialists. He was told that this was a incredibly rare and painful disease - Lucy was lucky to have lived as long as she did. And yet, Sting protested, it was not enough. It would never be enough.

He was a hopeless fool, falling for a woman who had not been guaranteed to live more than a scant few weeks. "It's a promise. I'll hold you to that."

* * *

_**Breaking News!**_

_Later last night, on September 11, 2012 at 11:40 p.m., Lucinda "Lucy" Heartphilia passed from a rare terminal disease. Let us take a moment to pay our respects to her as well as the fallen soldiers of this war ... _

_Jude Heartphilia, the President of the Heartphilia Enterprises, was in a difficult position at the loss of his heir. He surprised the population of Fiore by taking on a sudden, yet promising interest in a young man by the name of Sting Eucliffe ..._

* * *

_End._

* * *

**A/N:** Let's all pay our respects to the lives lost on the event of 9/11 eleven years ago. Let us cherish our families and those close to us, and may we live our lives to the fullest. Love with all your heart, and always let your family and friends know how much you love and appreciate them. No one is guaranteed another day of life, so let those close to you know how much you appreciate them. Don't let it become a regret and _just let them know_.

**Explaination for those who are confused**: This is an AU, set in a time during war. Sting is a soldier in Fiore's defences, and Rogue was his partner - who was injured and was forced to recover in the Military Hospital. Sting met Lucy there at the hospital, on the rooftop. They keep meeting, until Lucy's disease steadily worsened. They realize they love each other at the end, their _Bittersweet Lesson. They never got a chance to tell one another of their love - it was all broken promises. _The **Breaking News!** is a sort of post-event, reporting Lucy's death, because she is a rather important person. The newsreporters also mention Sting, because I'd like to think that Jude recognized Sting as someone important to Lucy, and thus gave him a chance to do something, I dunno... to make a difference.

As a last note, please excuse any mistakes, because I don't have a beta, and any OCC-ness (I warned you beforehand).

SO, if you liked it, please show your support and leave a review, and/or favorite. Check out my other stories as well! :)

- Elle.


End file.
